Rock Hard Festival

Rock Hard Festival takes place every year at Pentecost at the amphitheatre in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on the banks of the Rhine-Herne Canal. Launched in 2003 by Rock Hard magazine to mark its 20th anniversary, it has become a fixture of the metal calendar, with an international line-up spanning traditional heavy metal to extreme metal. Its relatively intimate capacity for this kind of event gives it a friendly atmosphere and a reputation for strong sound quality.